SpaceX Acquires xAI, Pursues Orbital Data Centers

In early February 2026, SpaceX announced it acquired xAI in a stock-for-stock deal converting each xAI share into 0.1433 SpaceX shares, valuing the combined company at about $1.25 trillion. Elon Musk said the merger aims to build orbital data centers—potentially up to one million solar-powered satellites—to host AI compute, claiming lower costs within 2–3 years despite expert skepticism about decade-long timelines.